Woman locked inside CVS after store closes

ST. CLOUD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Imagine going shopping, minding your own business, when the doors close around you. It happened to a customer who was shopping at the CVS in St Cloud, Florida.

All alone and stuck in the store, Christian Hathaway was inside the CVS around 9 p.m. on Monday, when she soon realized that she was locked inside by herself. Her only way out was by calling 911.

Dispatcher: "911 What's your emergency?"

Caller: "I just have a question. I was in the CVS, and I think they just locked me in the building."

Hathaway said she was very scared, adding "I dropped all my stuff at the counter and ran running towards the door. I noticed the big steel door was coming down. There was probably three inches left, and I just started banging and screaming, 'Hello!'"

She said she was in plain sight and about to check out when the security gates came down.

"I was like, 'They couldn't have really locked me inside this building. There's gotta be someone inside the store.' But then I started yelling around the store and no one answered."

She said there was no over-head announcement usually made during closing.

Dispatcher: "Ok is anyone inside the building beside yourself?"

Caller: "No, I started screaming, 'Hello! is anyone in here? Hello?' And no one is in this building, but the alarm is going off."

Dispatcher: "Ok an officer will be dispatched as soon as possible."

That officer showed up, but couldn't get break through the metal security door. Forty minutes later, the manager arrived with keys in hand.

CVS released a statement stating, in part, "We are following up with the store team to ensure that, store closing procedures are followed properly in order to prevent something like this from happening again."

Hathaway said, "Had it been an older [person], or somebody without a cell phone, they would have been locked in there longer than I was!"

She said the store manager apologized and offered to give her a $100 gift card.